Washington, D.C. (February 9, 2018) Congressman Steve Pearce released the following statement after the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced its plans to list the Texas Hornshell Mussel as endangered under the Endangered Species Act:

“I am deeply concerned by this listing as it has the potential to cause harm to local communities, businesses, jobs, and could reduce state revenues from local energy production. I am troubled that the FWS decided to make this decision despite a serious lack of scientific information. The FWS does not know the status of Mussel populations in Mexico and failed to involve Mexico in recovery even though a significant portion of the Mussel’s habitat is found there.

Even without knowing this critical information, FWS has decided to move forward with this listing. I appreciate the work done to develop voluntary conservation agreements between government and local stakeholders, but am disappointed that these efforts were not given a chance to succeed before the listing. I will continue to monitor the recovery process as it moves forward to ensure that local communities and economies are not harmed.”

Background
The FWS Species Status Assessment claims that the Texas Hornshell Mussel historically occurred in the Delaware River, but there is only one single source that has claimed that. Interested landowners or industry can enroll in the Candidate Conservation Agreement (CCA) or the Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances (CCAA) until March 12, 2018, the effective date of the listing. The CCA and CCAA will be in effect for 30 years and cover conservation activities that take place on federal and non-federal lands in the Black and Delaware Rivers.